Albany vs UMass Lowell Odds, Lines & Picks (Feb. 1)
It’s expected to be a huge mismatch in an America East conference clash on Wednesday, February 1st, when the Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks (17-6, 10-9-1 ATS) play host to the Albany Great Danes (6-17, 7-13 ATS). Game time is 6:00 pm ET from the Costello Athletic Center.
Owners of a spotless 11-0 home record, UMass Lowell are enormous 13.5-point favorites against an Albany squad that sits at the bottom of the conference standings.
It’s been a sorry month for the Great Danes, who are just 1-6 in January, and it won’t get much easier when they visit the River Hawks.
Albany vs Massachusetts Lowell Odds
Odds as of January 31st from FanDuel. Claim the FanDuel Sportsbook bonus code.
There doesn’t seem to be a path to victory here for Albany, so the only realistic question is, can they cover the spread? They haven’t been able to cover once during their current five game losing streak and have lost three of those contests by double digits.
Albany Falls on Hard Times
Rather swiftly, the Great Danes have gone from a middling team in the America East to the bottom of the barrel. A loss to UMass Lowell on the last day of the month, would be their 18th defeat of the year, equaling their total from all of last season.
They have lost their last five road games by an average of 14.4 points which partly explains why they’re such huge underdogs in the college basketball odds against the River Hawks.
The Great Danes have problems on both sides of the ball. On defense, they allow 74.7 points per game, and sit outside the top 300 teams in the nation. Offensively, they score just 67.1 points per game, ranking them 292nd overall.
When you’re in the bottom 20% in both categories, it can spell disaster and lead to the type of the record that Albany is currently dealing with.
Massachusetts Lowell Can’t Be Beaten at Home
Despite owning by far the best overall record in the America East conference at 17-6, the River Hawks are just fourth in the conference at 5-4. Home court has been a huge advantage, as they haven’t lost as hosts in 11 games this year.
Interestingly enough, Albany has had their number of late. Although we don’t see any path that would lead to an upset this time around, they got swept by the Great Danes last season and stunningly lost by 26 at Albany just three weeks ago.
Albany vs Massachusetts Lowell Recent Results
In that early January contest to forget for the River Hawks, they got burned badly by Albany’s shooting from beyond the arc. The Great Danes went 13-20 from long range, making an incredible 65% of their three point attempts. On the other hand, UMass Lowell went just 3-15 shooting triples.
That’s a 30-point difference just based on three pointers and ultimately was the difference in the game. For the year, the River Hawks shoot 37.4% from long range as opposed to 32.6% for Albany, so we’ll write that one game off as an anomaly.
Albany vs Massachusetts Lowell Prediction
If there’s any area where Albany has had success, it’s in going over the betting line in the over/under odds. Bad defense certainly contributes to that, and the Great Danes have managed to top the total that was set for them and their opponents in six of their last seven.
In addition, they have surpassed the over/under total in 14 of 20 contests this campaign, a 70% mark. If you’ve been wagering on their games to have more buckets than the sportsbooks anticipated, you’re in the money, especially in the last month.
After suffering an embarrassing defeat to the Great Danes a few weeks ago, expect the River Hawks to come out looking to make a statement early in this one. It’s really unlikely they struggle from beyond the arc as much as they did in their last matchup.
At 144.5 points, the over/under is set a little a little too high for our liking, so our most confident prediction is for UMass Lowell to avenge their embarrassing defeat from a few weeks ago in a big way.
Pick: Massachusetts Lowell -13.5 (-110)
